What sport gives a kid the edge for admissions?

[Anonymous]

The problem with sports like soccer, football and basketball is that there are just so many talented kids that it's hard to really stand out enough to get recruited. With crew, fewer high schools have crew teams, and then it helps to be tall and have long limbs. Whereas great soccer players come in all shapes and sizes.

[Anonymous]

Crew...coaches were salivating when my brother, who is 6'3' and weighted (back then) 150 lbs, was looking at colleges.

[Anonymous]

Whichever sport your kid is nationally ranked/competitive in.

[Anonymous]

Not OP. What about fencing? Is that popular w/ colleges?

[Anonymous]

Re fencing -- not many colleges have fencing teams. And it's a sport where rankings are really pretty clearcut. So a kid has to do really well nationally (top 5 in his/her category (age, gender, weapon)). Our local club has one kid who is fencing at ND on a scholarship and another who is/will be recruited. But I don't get the impression it's a sport any school recruits heavily (and if a kid is in the top 5 nationally, odds are s/he will be looking for a school with a good fencing program so it may be a case where you don't really have to recruit because options are limited for the athletes). More a case where the fact that a kid is nationally ranked in anything makes them a standout applicant.

[Anonymous]

I think Notre Dame gives scholarships for fencing. Several area fencing clubs have kids there.

[Anonymous]

Hands down, crew.

Also perhaps squash, tennis, basketball for women, ...

[Anonymous]

I know someone who recently got quite a bit of money at a great school for fencing!

[Anonymous]

I think swimming is a good one for scholarships but sounds like he's not into that.

[Anonymous]

What about golf?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like the OP is relaizing her kid doesn't have anything of quality to put on his application. I ttell my kids this. their uncles were all Div 1 atheltes who received full rides to very good schools. The main reason the schools wanted them is because of their leadership on and off the field. Basically, don't just lead your team but lead your community and you can't fail.

[Anonymous]

the one that he is the most passionate about will resonate the most with an admissions office, and will give him the greatest chance of getting to a level where he would be recruited.

As a mom, I'd also want it to be a sport that he could play for a lifetime with a lower chance of injury than, say, football. Squash, tennis, swimming, diving, crew, sailing, golf, running....

And if he's a minority, being in one of the traditionally white preppy sports could give him an edge, too.

But if he likes them all equally, look at the strength of the programs at your school (current and high school) and in the neighborhood. No sense in adding drive time unnecessarily. Look at the coaches, the camaraderie, the character of the students through high school. Are the ____ players in high school ones that you would want to date your daughter? Are they polite? Are they hard workers? Or are they misogynistic jerks? When picking a sport, you are also picking a cohort.

I'd also look at sports that are complementary, in that they work different parts of the body so it is more like cross training. I wouldn't do three sports that are all likely to end up with a rotator cuff injury, for example.

[Anonymous]

People aren't getting that if the kid isn't good enough to be recruited...the sport only counts as an "activity" just as community service or drama does. To count and to get an admissions boost -- the child has to be a recruited athlete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People aren't getting that if the kid isn't good enough to be recruited...the sport only counts as an "activity" just as community service or drama does. To count and to get an admissions boost -- the child has to be a recruited athlete.

We get that - you may not get that we've already built that assumption into our discussions.

Re fencing vs. crew -- both require certain sets of attributes that can't all be taught/learned.

-- For crew you need a certain height, but if you have that, you can hire a trainer to get your speed up to what the colleges are looking for.

-- For fencing, you need really quick reflexes, ability to plan ahead. To some extent this improves with practice, but there some kids seem to bump up against limits, from my observations of teen fencers.

Both sports have fewer competitors than, say, soccer, baseball or basketball, or even lacrosse. So your chances are better. I know fewer fencers than rowers, but that's just my own observations, I don't know the actual numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know someone who recently got quite a bit of money at a great school for fencing!

I'm curious - how high was this kid ranked nationally? Top 5, or lower than that? Lots of points?